BILL ANALYSIS
SB 811
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 15, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 811 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: May 4, 2009
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:9-4
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
assign specially constructed vehicles (or "kit cars") previously
registered outside California the model-year based on the
calendar year the vehicle was first registered outside the
state. The bill also:
1)Allows the owner of such a vehicle to apply for a different
model-year determination, if the vehicle is one of the first
500 kit cars that are registered each year (see discussion
below).
2)Requires DMV, if it is unable to establish the year in which
the vehicle was originally registered, to assign the same
model-year as the calendar year in which the application for
registration was submitted, and allows DMV to establish by
regulation the procedures for determining the original year of
registration.
FISCAL EFFECT
Administrative costs to DMV are minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Existing law requires the owners of out-of-state
vehicles being re-registered in California to pay a sales and
use tax and to obtain a smog certificate of compliance.
Vehicles with a pre-1976 model year are exempt from smog
inspections. DMV grants "full faith and credit" to other
states' certificates of title and uses the information on
SB 811
Page 2
those documents to register the vehicles in this state.
Existing law also authorizes DMV to establish the model year
for up to 500 specially constructed vehicles (kit cars) per
year based on the model year of the vehicles they most closely
resemble. Since most kit cars are designed to look like
classic cars (normally pre-1976 models), this provision
effectively exempts them from smog requirements.
Once 500 such vehicles have been registered in a given
calendar year, DMV requires that the smog inspection criteria
be based on a more accurate determination of the engine type
and year of production. This is likely to result in more
stringent smog requirements.
2)Rationale . This bill is intended to close a loophole in
existing law that allows kit cars to avoid smog requirements.
According to the sponsor, the California Office of the
Attorney General (AG), several states have registration laws
that allow a specially constructed vehicle to be assigned a
certificate of title bearing the same model year designation
as the vehicle it most closely resembles. A California
resident who built a kit car in 2008 that is designed to
resemble a 1965 vehicle can first register his or her vehicle
in another state, be assigned the 1965 model year, and then
re-register the vehicle in California as a 1965 vehicle,
allowing the vehicle to avoid smog inspection requirements.
The AG's office indicates it has seen a major increase in
California residents who are purchasing these vehicles
out-of-state and returning them to California to avoid
emission requirements. Based on the AG's prior
investigations, it is estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000
specially constructed vehicles are brought into California
each year that are not required to comply with California's
vehicle emission requirements. Additionally, as long as this
loophole exists, the California-based kit car industry will
suffer as people seeking to avoid California emissions
standards will simply stop purchasing vehicles within the
state and instead purchase and take delivery of specially
constructed vehicles out-of-state.
By assigning the model year using the first year of
registration to a specially constructed vehicles coming into
this state, rather than the year on the title, this bill will
SB 811
Page 3
close this loophole. It may, however, also result in
newly-built kit cars from out of state being unable to be
registered in California due to their engines not meeting
current standards.
Analysis Prepared by : Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081